Editing method for producing a doll having a realistic face

ABSTRACT

A method for digitally editing an image of a real-life person for attaching the image to a soft-bodied doll having a generally planar face. The process includes electronically importing an image into a computer by use of a scanner, a digital camera, a compact disc, or an attachment to an e-mail, to produce a digital image file. The image is then digitally edited using any image editor. The face is masked while the neck of the person and background of the image are deleted. A portion of the person&#39;s cheek is then sampled and lightened slightly to form a neck color which then fills in the previously deleted portion. In a second embodiment, only the eyes, nose and mouth are masked while the rest of the image is either tinted to a chosen color corresponding to the color of fabric used in producing the doll, or partially erased to allow the chosen background color to blend through and create a color match between the facial images and the cloth body. In a third embodiment, the image is lightened in color to allow the color of the fabric used in producing the doll to bleed through the image. In this embodiment, the eyes and teeth are first whitened as much as possible. In a fourth embodiment, all areas of the photograph except the eyes, nose and mouth areas are removed and the resulting image is transferred to the face of the doll.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/628,014, filed on Jul. 28, 2000, hereinincorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to a method of digitally editing aphotograph in preparation for applying the photograph to the face of adoll.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

[0003] Several prior art methods exist for making dolls having a facewith an appearance of an actual person. However, most of these dolls areeither hard to produce or very unrealistic in appearance. This is due tothe lack of editing performed on the image before the image is appliedto the doll. The following U.S. Patents are examples.

[0004] U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,224 issued to Gintling on Apr. 4, 1995 showsphotograph face doll with a removable face pocket. It includes a dollhaving a pocket secured to the face portion for displaying a photograph.A photographic image of a person can be cut into a shape that fitswithin the pocket attached to the doll's face. In this manner, the dollis customizable. This method of customization is very easy for the ownerof the doll to perform. However, it is not life-like and creates apicture frame like appearance.

[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,987 issued to Hull et al. on Feb. 19, 1991shows a doll with a photographic image face. It is a doll having apersonalized, photographic face impregnated in the material of which thedoll is constructed using dye sublimation. It does not disclose anyspecific editing methods for the image before the image is placed on thedoll through the process of sublimation.

[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,788 issued to Penberthy et al. on Sep. 8,1998 shows a figurine having a sublimated image for a face. It states,“The present invention concerns a figurine with a picture image for aface, and in particular, to a ceramic figurine and process for producinga ceramic figurine which has a transferred photograph image for a face.Difficulties associated with dye sublimating a photographic or otherimage onto a three dimensional figure can be overcome by utilizing asubstantially three dimensional representative head having a planarfacial region. By utilizing a flat/planar facial region a standard flatheat press system may be utilized to sublimate an image into the coatingof a ceramic figure. The resulting image is unexpectedly clear andlifelike with a smooth appearance and no sharp edges.” This patent alsoincludes a very thorough description of dolls designed to includelife-like features. The following is another excerpt from that patent.

[0007] “Generally, a doll is a small representative figure of a humanbeing and has traditionally been considered a child's toy. Dolls havebeen known since ancient times. In Europe, during the 15th century,“fashion dolls” which were given as gifts by monarchs and courtiershelped spread costume styles. Germany was noted for manufacture ofwooden dolls during the 17'h century and of china doll's heads duringthe 19Ih century. In Paris during the 18Ih century, dolls weremanufactured that could speak and close their eyes. In the 19Ih centurydolls were made of fabric, paper-mache, china, wax, hard rubber orbisque. By the 20th century doll manufacturing was an important U.S.industry.

[0008] “Dolls are not exclusively children's toys. Many individualspurchase figurines and dolls as collectibles. Collectible dolls andfigurines are often displayed on shelves or in curio cabinets.

[0009] “In addition to mass produced commercially available dolls, andeven more limited edition collector's dolls, there is a need for a dollwhich can be customized or personalized by the purchaser.

[0010] “Specifically, a mother might want a doll representative of herchild at a particular age or a grandparent might want dollsrepresentative of her grandchild(ren). The demand for customizable andpersonalized items bearing photographic images is evidenced by therecent increase in sales of personalized computer image T-shirts andcoffee mugs.

[0011] “Additionally, an individual may want to create a figurine whichis representative of a sports hero, historical figure or even a figurinewhich is representative of a pet.”

[0012] Since dolls and figurines have been in existence for centuriesthere are many examples of specialized dolls in the prior art. However,none of the dolls in the prior art have customizable facial featuresthat use an editing process to solve problems associated with creating alife-like doll.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0013] The instant invention is a method of digitally editing aphotographic image of a real-life

[0014] person for attaching said image to a soft-bodied doll having agenerally planar face. The process includes electronically importing thephotographic image of a person by using a scanner, a digital camera, acompact disk, or an attachment to an e-mail to produce a digital imagefile. The image is then digitally edited using any image editor. Theface is masked while the neck of the person and background of the imageare deleted. A portion of the persons cheek is then sampled andlightened slightly to form a neck color which then fills in thepreviously deleted portion.

[0015] In a second embodiment, only the eyes, nose and mouth are maskedwhile the rest of the image is either tinted to a chosen colorcorresponding to the color of fabric used in producing the doll, orerased slightly to allow the prematched background color to blendthrough to recolor the image. In a third embodiment, the image islightened in color. This allows the color of the fabric used inproducing the doll to bleed through the image. In this embodiment, theeyes and teeth are first whitened as much as possible. In a fourthembodiment, all areas of the photograph except the eyes, nose and mouthareas are removed and the resulting image is transferred to the face ofthe doll.

[0016] It is an object of the present invention to provide a life-likedoll having an image of a real-life person as a face.

[0017] It is another object of the present invention to digitally edit aphotograph of a person so as to create an image which is easilytransformed to the face of a doll.

[0018] It is another object of the present invention to digitally edit aphotograph of a person so as to create a doll having a realistic lookingface without the additional image data normally associated with aphotograph.

[0019] It is another object of the present invention to digitally edit aphotograph of a person to convert the image into a shape which betterfits a fabric pattern for a three-dimensional doll.

[0020] It is another object of the present invention to digitally edit aphotograph of a person so as to create a neck portion that gives thedoll a realistic life-like appearance.

[0021] These together with other objects of the invention, along withvarious features of novelty which characterize the invention, arepointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming partof this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, itsoperating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses,reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptivematter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] The invention will be better understood and objects other thanthose set forth above will become apparent when consideration is givento the following detailed description thereof. Such description makesreference to the annexed drawings wherein:

[0023]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the doll having a face which is animage of a real-life person.

[0024]FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the steps in the first embodimentfor the method of editing a photographic image of a real-life person.

[0025]FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the steps in the second embodimentfor the method of editing a photographic image of a real-life person.

[0026]FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the steps in the third embodimentfor the method of editing a photographic image of a real-life person.

[0027]FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the steps in the fourth embodimentfor the method of editing a photographic image of a real-life person.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0028] The first embodiment of the editing method is shown in FIG. 2.Step 101 includes electronically importing the photographic image of aperson into a computer using a scanner, a digital camera, a compactdisk, or an attachment to an e-mail. Step 103 includes storing it as animage file that can be altered by an image editing program. For example,the Adobe Photoshop editing program can be used to alter the image. Step105 includes masking the face in an outline so as to fit the dimensionof the three-dimensional doll's planar face. Step 105 is performed bytracing an outline path around the face of the digital image. Theoutline or path is made around the face from ear to ear, and then aroundthe bottom of the photograph. This area is then selected thus becomingthe active area.

[0029] Step 107 includes sampling the color from the face of the personin the photograph. The preferred area for sampling is the outer edge ofthe cheek area. The sampled color is then altered by changing itsopacity to 80-90% of its original shade. This lightens the sampledcolor. Step 104 includes filling in the neck and background area in theimage with the altered sample color taken from the face. This stepincludes masking the selected facial portion and making the neck andbackground the new active portion. In step 109, a new active portionincluding the neck and background is now changed to the altered sampledcolor taken from the face. An additional layer of 3% opacity of thesampled face color can be applied at this point to give the appearanceof shadows. This layer of 3% opacity of the sampled face color can alsobe used to lighten the edges of the face to create a better transitionarea between the face and neck. Step 111 includes inverting the imagehorizontally. The resulting image can be printed on sheets of transferpaper. The transfer paper is then used to place the image on the clothface of the doll.

[0030] Placement for the face has been determined by a pattern whichplaces the chin in the center of the pattern 0.75 inches from the bottomedge. A 0.25 inch seam allowance has been included which allows for theface to be sewn to the front body section of the doll's face. The shapeof the face pattern is important in the construction of the doll becausethe edited area of the photograph which was the background is now theneck of the doll.

[0031] Editing of a photograph in this manner keeps the original colorsof the photograph and preserves the original likeness of the subject ascaptured by the photographer. The edited areas of the face merely allowthe photograph to change from a paper medium to a fabric medium bylightening the shadowed edges not needed on a three-dimensional fabricobject. The edited areas of the neck allow the photograph to fit thepattern of the doll.

[0032] A shortcoming of this embodiment is in the difficulty of havingthe proper color match in the body fabric available. Due to theunlimited numbers of skin tones and film colors and variations inlighting, every edited face is slightly different. Small quantities ofdoll faces could be edited in this manner and the body color match couldbe found by trial and error. If the perfect color match for the bodyfabric is not available locally, the color can be reproduced on sheetsof transfer paper using either the color fill of the neck area or acloned sample of the face duplicated to fill a sheet of transfer paper.The skin color can then be ironed on to white fabric to produce theskin. However, in large scale productions, fabrics would be requiredimmediately. Dyng fabrics to specifications would create perfect colormatches as well as the opportunity to design fabrics that more closelyresemble skin tones with highlights and mid-tones. These types of customfabrications require large yardage minimums per color which would beimpractical except in very large production situations, for example,making 10,000 dolls of one person.

[0033] The second embodiment of the editing method is shown in FIG. 3.For large productions where every face is unique, it is more economicalto choose fabrics that are already available and then edit thephotograph to match the fabric color. Step 201 includes electronicallyimporting the photograph of a real-life person into a computer by usinga scanner, a digital camera, a compact disk, or an attachment to ane-mail and storing it as an image file that can be altered by an imageediting program. For example, the Adobe Photoshop editing program can beused to alter the image. The image is stored on a database in Step 203.Step 205 includes masking several facial portions. The eyes, eye brows,mouth and the outline of the nose are masked. Step 207 includesprotecting the masked areas while the remaining areas are altered to acolor matching the fabric color chosen.

[0034] Dolls made with the editing methods of the first and secondembodiment must have custom sized wigs that will follow the edge of thephotograph to the mouth area. A more artistic continuation of theediting method of the second embodiment is used to create a more naturalhairline that will allow the doll to use more economical ready-madewigs. After blending the edges of the face with background, the cheekarea between the eye and mouth comer is blended further to totallyremove the line at the edge. A color in the shadows of the cheek edgeset to an opacity level of about 18% is used to extend the cheek colorbeyond the face edge approximately ⅜ of an inch. The color is appliedwith a brush tool of the editing program in an upward direction asthough applying blush to the cheeks. After the doll has been sewn theface will actually have a side leaving no visible sign of the edge ofthe photograph. The wig will follow the hair line across the front andside temples but then taper back leaving a side facial area. The chinremains slightly visible to identify the shape of the face.

[0035] In another embodiment, an oval shape selection tool is used toachieve the same result.

[0036] The oval shaped selection tool includes a feathered edge set at10 pixels. The tool is used to select the area in the face of theoriginal photo which contains the eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth and chin.The selected area is corrected, if necessary, with a quick mask anddragged to a new background that is the color of the doll body. A quickmask shows the masked area as red and can be reduced by painting withwhite, or enlarged by painting with black. This method also removes theedges of the face so that the doll can wear a normal wig, but requiresless painting skills.

[0037] In manufacturing settings, it is necessary to have the dollfinished before the face is applied. Having to finish the face beforethe doll can be sewn would be too slow and too difficult to supervise,especially if the doll is being made a distance away from where the faceediting is taking place. Faces edited with the method of the first andsecond embodiments can be applied to a finished doll if first ironedonto special paper called DFOM-10, then cut out around the perimeter ofthe face and neck area and ironed to the center of the face area of thedoll. Also, a hood with the edited face could be pulled on over afinished doll and fused in place.

[0038] The third embodiment of the editing method is shown in FIG. 4.Step 301 includes importing the photograph of a person (person could bedeceased) into the computer by using a scanner, a digital camera, acompact disk, or an attachment to an e-mail. Step 303 includes storingthis image on a database. Step 305 includes selecting the eye and teethareas. In step 305, the selected areas are brightened in preparation forplacing the face on the doll. Step 307 involves lightening the imagebefore application to the doll's face. The image is flipped horizontallythen printed out. It is cut out and ironed directly to the face of thedoll. The face is centered with the mouth placed at the neck seam area.This doll needs the custom fitted wig. However, when the edge of theface between the eye and mouth comer is softened and the extended cheekshading is added, the doll can wear a ready-made wig. The extended cheekarea has a wide feathered edge to more effectively blend with the fabricin the side area.

[0039] These same results can be achieved by selecting the area of theface in the original photo with the eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth and chinusing an oval tool. The oval tool has a feathered edge of approximatelyten pixels. The area of the face, once selected, is dragged to a clearbackground. After the image has been flipped and ironed directly to thefabric, it blends with the fabric color and removes the edge of theface.

[0040] The fourth embodiment of the editing method is shown in FIG. 5.In step 401, as above, the image of a person is electronically importedinto the computer using either, a scanner, a digital camera, a compactdisk, or an attachment to an e-mail. Step 403 includes storage of thescanned image on a database. In step 405 all areas of the photographexcept for the eyes, nose and mouth areas are removed. By using thehighlight—color range option and resulting quick mask in the Adobeediting program—the eyes and mouth are darkened to 100% black opacity.The nose is darkened with varying degrees of opacity of black, or shadesof gray. These degrees fade from black at the bottom of the nose to 50%opacity of black at the middle of the nose to a gradual decrease of 18%opacity of black where the nose joins the face between the eyes. Theremaining face area is cleared of any other mask color. After the maskmode has been turned off, the selected area that was not masked ishighlighted by a marquee and is deleted. Using the outline of the facefrom the copied photograph, the transparent face shape with truefeatures is cut out and ironed onto the finished doll. The mouth iscentered with the center area parallel to the neck seam.

[0041] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made to the editing method. Thus, itis intended that the present invention cover such modifications andvariations, provided they come within the scope of the appended claimsand their equivalents. The disclosure of all publications cited aboveare expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entireties tothe same extent as if each were incorporated by reference individually.

1. A method of digitally editing a photographic image of a person havinga facial portion including eyes, a nose and a mouth and a non-facialportion for attaching the image to a doll having a face for receivingthe image and a doll color, comprising: electronically importing thephotographic image of a person by using a scanner, a digital camera, acompact disc, or an attachment to an e-mail to produce a digital imagefile; saving the digital image file in computer memory; editing thedigital image file by masking the facial portion, sampling the color ofthe facial portion and altering the non-facial portion to a lightershade between the sampled color of the facial portion and the dollcolor; horizontally flipping the image; printing the image ontotransferable paper; and transferring the image onto the doll having aface for receiving the image.
 2. (canceled)
 3. (canceled)
 4. A method ofdigitally editing a photographic image of a person having a facialportion including eyes, a nose and a mouth and a non-facial portion forattaching the image to a doll having a face for receiving the image anda doll color, comprising: electronically importing the photographicimage of a person by using a scanner, a digital camera, a compact disk,or an attachment to an e-mail to produce a digital image file; savingthe digital image file in computer memory; editing the digital imagefile by masking the facial portion, feathering an edge of the facialportion and altering the non-facial portion to a slightly darker shadeof the doll color; horizontally flipping the image; printing the imageonto transferable paper; and transferring the image onto the doll havinga face for receiving the image.
 5. (canceled)
 6. A method of digitallyediting a photographic image of a person having a facial portionincluding eyes, a nose and a mouth and a non-facial portion forattaching the image to a doll having a face for receiving the image anda doll color, comprising: electronically importing the photographicimage of a person by using a scanner, a digital camera, a compact disc,or an attachment to an e-mail to produce a digital image file; savingthe digital image file in computer memory; editing the digital imagefile by removing all areas except the eyes, the nose and the mouthleaving a transparent face shape and feathering an edge of the facialportion to match the doll color; horizontally flipping the image;printing the image onto transferable paper; and transferring the imageonto the doll having a face for receiving the image.